It's A Dog's Life

Ruff Ruff,

I mean hello. Did a small trip to Petco with the pup to get dog food, cat food, and some fish stuff. And of course Abby got a toy. She's spoiled. We're just obsessed with our pets so we don't mind spoiling them. I laugh cause they even eater healthier then we do. We buy only the best food for them which usually is the most expensive.... Oh well.

-Christina

It's my party and I can cry if I want to!

Hi,

   I have the worst birthday ever. Everyone including my so called best friends didn't show up to my birthday party. It's literally unbelievable. Even my roommate went to someone else's party which made half the regulars at our parties not come. Are you freaking kidding me? I've thrown people birthday parties at my house and they can't even come to mine? Ridiculous. I was so hurt by this. Usually we have about 50 people show up to our parties... I had 20. I'm thankful to the people who came though. I cried during the day (typical) but eventually let myself enjoy who was there.

We're weird.

   My theme this year was awesome though, so those people really missed out! It was a masquerade ball! I bought the most beautiful mask, and it was only $11 on Amazon. I wore my senior prom dress. A few of other girls wore theirs too! And all the men looked very handsome. My photobooth came out good too. In the end I did have a good time.

Alex and I

Chay and Chris

Me, Brotherbear Nick and my cousin Marisa!

My hunny.

Well Happy Birthday to me...
Christina

Merry Christmas!

Hi!

Today was fantistic. It was my sister's first time hosting a holiday! She and Odie bought a new home this past summer. So now she was able to host a family get together! We were so excited, my grandma and I headed over around 11am to help get everything ready. I brought chocolate covered strawberries and cupcakes. Dina made tons of food, then again she's a home economics teacher. And the house was decorated beautifully.

My family and a few members of Odie's family were there. It was so nice to have everyone there. After a yummy dinner and tasty desserts! We did our tradition of playing Just Dance on the Wii! It is always a blast and I always look ridiculous.

Top Left: Some cousins
Underneath: Grams & Abbie and a photo of me by the barn
Top Right Two: Dina, Odie, and Tim & Me by the gifts
Bottom right: Just Dance 

All in all it was a great day, I was even the last to leave! We did a mini photo shoot by the barn, danced and talked all night, ate tons of foods and my chocolate covered strawberries were a huge hit! Good night everyone.

Love, Christina 

Christmas Eve With The Carrolls

Hope everyone had a good night!

I always spend Christmas Eve with Sean's Dad's side. We go to his parent's house and do our secret Santa... which I remind you is never a secret. And everyone get's more then just one gift. All night we laugh and talk about our lives. I truly love his family, I really feel apart of it... well, it is my 5th Christmas with them!

The dogs had a blast, running around. Abby wore her bandana which has two sides. One side says "I was naught and it was worth it!" and the other side says "I've been nice all year!" Clearly we put it on the naughty side... We also had a surprise guest, Tom!!! He's came back from his 6 month stay in California! He showed up and gave me a giant belated birthday hug! Food was delicious! And I got some awesome gifts! Sephora gift card from Jordan (Sean's sister) and an A.C. Moore gift cards! Perfume from Paris from Jenna (Sean's oldest sister) when she went! Adorna (Sean's mom) got me some organizer stuff and fuzzy socks. Sean got a brown leather coat, which hilariously Adorna also bought for Sean's dad, Jordan's boyfriend, and Jenna's boyfriend. Clearly she's starting a motorcycle gang! Haha.

Okay I need sleep for tomorrow! I have an early day!

Sleep tight,
Christina

Yum!

Hey hungry hungry hippos!

So my first time making chocolate strawberries went very well! And delicious if I do say so myself! Here's what I did.

What you need:
- 2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts
- 2 packages of strawberries
- Cupcake liners
- Sprinkles (you can do nuts also)
- Mug
- Spoon
- Paper towels
- Parchment paper (I used tin foil because that all I had!)
- Sm shot glasses

Okay do you have all that?

My Steps
1-  Organize everything before you start!
~ Pour sprinkles in shot glasses.
~ Lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet or flat surface.
~ Pour some of the chocolate ships in a mug.

2- Rinse strawberries & dry them off good with paper towels, you don't want them wet or the chocolate won't stick! I did enough to fill my small plate instead of all of them at once.

3- Melt chocolate (directions are on the back!)
~ I filled my mug half way with the melts.
~ Place in microwave for 30 seconds.
~ Stir well or the bottom will burn and their is no saving it!
~ Do it for another 30 seconds.
~ Stir again and you're ready to dunk!

4- Grab your strawberry by the very top but don't just hold the green cause it may come off, swirl it in the chocolate. I held the mug tilted so I could push the chocolate to the front and sometimes used a spoon.

5- Decorate!
~ I filled each shot glass with different sprinkles, some people do nuts too! But I hate nuts... I did all Christmas colors! But I recommend doing some plain, as not everyone likes stuff on theirs.
~You can even get different color chocolates by Wilson Candy Melts.
~ Perfect for any holiday!

6- Place he decorated strawberry on the cookie sheet to harden. They dry pretty fast!

7- I repeated the process a bunch of times because I needed to make a bunch for Christmas day.

8- Get a serving tray and place them nicely on it to make it perfect for when you put it out. I decided to put one strawberry each in a cupcake liner, that way it was easy finger food and you had something to catch any chocolate that breaks off as you eat! I did Christmas liners.

9- When you are all done place in fridge right up until serving time!

So that was just the way I did it. Their are a bunch of other ways, you can even do stove top melting... but that was too much work for me. The whole process to me about an hour!

How adorable?!

All done!

Hope you make some of you're own tasty treats, their easy for anyone even non-bakers like me!

Stay full,
Christina

Birthday Week!

Happy Birthday to me & hello to you!

So from the 21st to the 23rd was busy busy busy. First was Nonno's 95th Birthday! He's old but living young! He even goes to work every day (well he owns the company but still!) Him and Nonnie, Sean's grandparents are hardcore Italians and the cutest couple ever. I love being apart of Sean's family, they treat me like they've known me forever. Even Nonnie remembers me more then some of her own grandchildren. But hey give her some slack she's 93! Every birthday they put on the exact amount of candles... so 95! Well 96 candles, one for luck. This year the finally did the right thing by having a cake that's not a frosted kind, I think it was some type of bunt cake. Last year, all the candles melted in the frosting, it was actually uneatable. Wax mixed into the melted chocolate frosting on the top. The cake always looks like a bon fire on top! But we all laugh and have a good time every year. A little later in the night they relight the cake for myself, their cousin, their aunt, and nonno's friend. We all have December birthdays. It's so nice to include me!

Let's just say it was super difficult to blow it out... even with four people! The next night was Sean's work Christmas social. They did a secret Santa. Of course I had to dress up!

And finally it was my 24th birthday (On the 23rd incase you lost track of what day we were on). Of course I cried earlier cause I was stuck alone all day, and of course no one was free to hang out even our whole main guy group.... my birthday honestly sucks cause everyone always busy this time of year. So in the end it was a great night! We went to Dave & Busters! It was Sean, Andrew, Zach, Marisa, and surprising me was my sister Dina. She earlier said she wouldn't be able to come since she had tons of prepping to do for Christmas day. But I'm so happy she came. I won soooo many tickets that nights and ended up buying two balls for the pup as a Christmas gift, a soccer ball and a small basketball. She loved them.

Okay, after Christmas I'll post about the holidays!

With love, the birthday girl

Flashback Friday!

In honor of my brothers birthday! Happy Birthday Joe!!! I managed to look just like this photo of you till high school!

Quote Of The Day: Movies

Elf

"SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!" -Buddy

Okay I lied, I don't know him.... if only I were an elf.
-Christina

A Visit With Lili

Hello sweet people!

Today we went to my best friend Rachel's house for a visit! We got to see our favorite girl Aaliyah, aka Lili. She is the cutest munchkin ever. I've known her since she was in Rachel's belly! So went over for just a bit, Lili had a Christmas party at her preschool. Sean gave her the gift, she was so excited! I ended up getting her an adorable Christmas pj set to wear Christmas Eve and then a cute outfit for whenever. It's a cute long sleeve black top with tulle on the bottom of it and a gold band in the middle with matching leggings with black polka dots. Rachel said she's going to wear it New Year's Eve!

The visit consisted of Aaliyah showing us her toys, Sean reading to her, giving us necklaces to wear for the tea party (which she only played for 5 seconds) and Rachel getting her ready. Now, as we all know 2 year olds are known for the phase terrible twos... She turned 2 in July and has just started this phase. Lili has always been as we say the perfect child. But as Nanny I know all about those twos and even horrible threes! Sean on the other hand has never witnessed a tantrum, especially from her! Rachel was putting on Aaliyah's tights to get ready for the party and the whole time she was kicking, crying and yelling.... Rachel and I were still calmingly talking about normal things like it wasn't even happening. Sean was like what?! He's never seen anything like that before. After we left and were in the car, he turns to me and says "How do you guys do that?" I just responded "We just do."

Stay warm,
Christina

Selfie

A selfie for you.

Mwah!
Christina

This

At Big Lots today shopping and I saw this.

kbye, Christina

Quote Of The Day: Book

I love Jim Carrey movie version of the book! Whose with me?!

-Christina

Christmas Time Is Here...

Happiness and Cheer everyone!

Hope you're enjoying the holiday season! I know I am. Not much to say but here's a few decorations and our Christmas card! Enjoy!

The Mantel! Paintings by me! 

This beautiful girl

I love my family!!

Tree this year!

Enjoy the season everyone, I will post the actually holiday posts soon!
-Christina

Dave & Buster's

I love acting like a kid!

My first time to Dave & Buster's was a blast! We had a fun time and got a bunch of tickets. I got a tumbler with them. We didn't eat there, but Sean got a cool looking drink at the bar. Remember that's time in North Carolina when I went to Frankie's? They had a connect four here too! Loved it, I lost though...

Go play,
Christina

In Memory Of Mallissa Fundraiser

Hello,

   I think the fundraiser went well. I wish we were able to have more people, but that's okay. Most of the family came to have some fun and Mallissa's best friends came as well. I was so happy they were able to come. We all had a jumping fun night! Who doesn't love trampolines?!

Group shot of most of the supporters! A few weren't there yet, and The boyfriend was the one taking the picture!

Mallissa's best friends and Abbie Jumping to reach the bag, let's just say I couldn't do that. Not even close to getting yet.

 Me, my brother Nick, and my mother!

My turn to jump on the air bags! Frightening to say the least!

Dina's turn, she couldn't climb out so funny! Then there's Mallissa's aunt Carol who decided to fall in the kids foam pit! Hilarious moment, she wasn't hurt so we could all laugh about it!

My Aunt Jackie with Sean

Bridget having a blast!

Jack in awe that Spiderman came to the event! And our hero was playing a little game of dodgeball!

Mike being crazy and Brenden shooting some hoops!

We ended up raising about $400 in ticket sales and t shirt sales. I am so happy to be donating to Peace And Paws Dog Rescue in Mallissa's honor!

Love a very happy...
Christina

I'm Strange

I put on my Khaleesi wig cause I was bored.

Whateva, whateva, I do what I want...
-Christina

Ice cream for breakfast

Perfect morning if I do say so myself!

Quote Of The Day: Movies

Elf

"I am a cotton-headed ninnymoggins!" -Buddy

Sometimes this is true....
whateva'
-Christina

Bridesmaid's Shopping

Hi!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was nice! Since Marisa was home from college and Abbie was on school vacation we thought it was the perfect time to go look for dresses!

Grams, Dina, Cece, Me, Abbie, and Marisa

Day One: We went to this small boutique in West Hartford, so you know it's expensive! This place was like the size of my room and then a two roomed dressing room. It seemed that everyone was finding dresses and I wasn't. I found 3 while everyone had like 12. Whatever. So we go to the dressing rooms and are taking turns. Marisa looks great in everything she can wear any style. I can only wear a dress with straps and a back that covers my bra. And no, strapless bras do not work for a 32 DD/E boob. I wasn't super upset but I did get a little down while watching everyone laughing and smiling holding potential dresses. I did feel myself wanting to cry and when I was in the dressing room alone looking in the mirror I was angry at my chest. But tomorrow we would go to David's Bridal so I tried not to worry too much.

Day Two: Davids Bridal had tons more options.... but not for me. As I searched I felt myself getting more discouraged. I found 4. Better then yesterday's selection. We had a section of dressing rooms all together, every bridesmaid was here plus my mom, 2 aunts, Odie's mom, and Grams. We had our own little spot, very roomie unlike the WeHa place. So I got into my dressing room and just stared at the dresses thinking which one should I even put on since none would fit or they looked like they were for an old lady. I tried on the least unattractive dress. Surprise, surprise, looks weird on my chest. I went to the second dress when my mom knocked and said to come out to show everyone....

Of course everyone is giving opinions at once. Over all no one liked it saying it looks too old for me. You think I don't know that? It's the only thing with straps! I'm on the verge of tears. I'm wearing this stupid dress and everyone else is happy and laughing, finding so many options. It's been about an hour and 4 girls have already picked out the ones they want. The other girl still looking had already narrowed it down. This made me want to cry even more. My mom, my sister, my grandma kept shoving dresses in the dressing room to try on. I wanted to scream "STOP!" I'm not going to wear any of those. If it doesn't have straps it's not happening.

Then everyone has to keep saying "Aw, what's wrong?" or "Are you okay?" and that just makes the tears pour out. So now I'm in the dressing room crying. This whole time before dress shopping I thought it would be so easy for me. But boy, was I wrong. I was not smiling, not laughing, not loving every dress like everyone else. I didn't want to be the Debbie downer or make things difficult for my sister. My sister finally came in to see what was wrong. I kept crying and saying sorry for ruining the day. She said not to worry and would be back. She found a few dresses and told me to just try them on and I didn't have to come out of the dressing room.

I still didn't like any of them. Then... She picked out this pretty one and I was like "No, there is only one strap..." but she said we could see if we could add one to the other side so I should just try it on anyway. So I listened and she said it looked beautiful and I should step out of the room and show everyone else. I did. Everyone was extra "Omg, Christina, you look stunning" because they really wanted to be nice since I had been crying this whole time. So it felt like they were being fake, but they weren't.

As you can tell my smile isn't fully real...

As I looked in the mirror I started to like it but it was 3 shades darker then everyone else's... then Dina said to me "You're the maid of honor, you get to stand out!" The women said when they hem the bottom they can use that fabric to make a strap that would cover my bra. Well, after they tried offering me to try on the strapless bras they sell. I mean, they didn't even have my size, yet they still were like it's a 34 D it's like the equivalent. No, it's not or I'd wear that bra instead of spending like $100 on my size! Duh!

By the end of our day my face chaffed from wiping my eyes/cheeks, my legs and feet hurt from standing so long, and I was mentally exhausted but I did feel relief in knowing that everything turned out okay.

-Christina

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for?

Sean surprised me with my first musical, Wicked! Had no clue till we got there!

I'm very grateful to have a really close and supportive family. In good and bad. And mostly I'm thankful for my boyfriend. Sean is the best thing that's ever happened to me. He's made me stronger then I've ever been. I can't even believe we've been together for 4 years and living together for 3! He really pushes me when it comes to my mental health and is always there for me no matter what. My life is a good one and I wouldn't change it for the world, no matter if I have bad days. Because in the end, it's about love and believing in yourself.

Uncle John, Huddy, Myself and my cousins Marisa and Abbie. Selfie time!

Mini shoot of Outfit Of The Day aka #OOTD

 Hope you all had a yummy and grateful Thanksgiving!
Love, Christina